Lost in the Dark
by parkourheartless13
Summary: A year after Kingdom Hearts 2, three new Wielders are discovered. One is led into Darkness and quickly becomes powerful enough to threaten Sora and the others. Is there any way to stop him? Or will he destroy all worlds in an attempt to save them?  OCXKai
1. Chapter 1

((Ok, this is my first fanfiction so don't be mean to me, please. I would like reviews though. Criticisms, suggestions, all these types of things are requested. Just don't be overly mean, please))

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. I do, however, own my OC's

Xaven woke up in the forest near his home in Seattle, Washington. He had ran away from his house two days ago. He hated his home, his parents, and his life. He was not exactly a perfect person, but he had gotten into a rich, private school on a scholarship and was hated by most of the people at his school for being smarter than everyone else, even though he tried not to act like it very often.

So, to solve the problem, he had run off. He brought with him as many non-perishable foods as he could fit into his backpack, but he had brought no other supplies with him. He had not even thought to bring a knife with him, even though he brought a few fruits with him that he would need to cut to eat and it would've been useful for hunting.

Xaven threw his backpack over his shoulder determined to get as deep into the forest as possible so nobody would ever find him. As he marched he began to feel... something. He was drawn to something, as if it had a magnetic pull that insisted on pulling him closer. He tried to ignore it and continue as if he felt nothing, but then it pulled harder, and his mind resisted. But, his body did not. He turned about forty-five degrees to his left and followed the pull.

"It's not like I have anything more important to do today," he mumbled to himself.  
>As he got closer the pull felt stronger, and deeper. It was as if whatever was pulling him in was pulling at something inside of him, not just his mind or body.<p>

Then he happened upon a cave. "I'm in a forest," he thought, "where, did this come from? There are no mountains here."

He walked around the cave, curiosity overpowering the magnetic pull that continued to try drawing him inside the mouth of the cave.

The entire cave was no more than a grouping of stones in the center of the forest; they did appear to be the size of a large hut and about seven feet tall. Xaven could not imagine this thing being natural. He assumed it to be someone's home.

Finally, when he could ignore the pull no longer, he entered the cave.

Inside, Xaven could barely see anything, the place was lit only by some groupings of glowing blue mushrooms scattered randomly across the ground and walls, but he did not see anything, anyway.

He walked to the opposite side of the cave, following the pull that still influenced him. And he found a door.

The door was only about five feet tall, Xaven, being five feet seven inches, would have to duck to enter it. If he could open it. The door had no handle. Or doorframe for that matter, it was just imbedded in the wall somehow.

"That's it, my pet, now open it."

Xaven turned quickly to face the voice. Though it was feminine and nonthreatening by sound, he was so far in the forest he should not have encountered anyone at all. And her appearance did not help. She was a bit taller than he was, she had a green tint to her skin, and wore a long cloak that was pitch black. She also seemed to have horns on her head, but Xaven wrote that off to being in such a dimly lit space.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Why are you here?"

The woman did not move at all, but a staff that she held in her hand, that Xaven had not seen before due to the darkness, glowed green, illuminating the cave.

"I am Maleficent," she answered, "and, I am here to take you away from this wretched place."

Xaven's muscles relaxed a bit without his willing them to. "Leave? To go where?"

"Any other world you wish! This world is disgusting, filled with people who have too much Darkness in their hearts. I want to take you away, to a place where you can start over, have power beyond your wildest dreams, and you will never be alone again."

Everything that she offered, even though Xaven saw no way for it to be true, was exactly what he wanted. How could he refuse? And what was there to lose? He probably would have died in this forest anyway.

"What do i have to do?" Xaven asked.

Maleficent smiled. "All you must do is open that door behind you."

"There's no doorknob," Xaven argued without thought.

"Oh, no. It needs no doorknob. It will open when your heart opens it through force of will."

Xaven rolled his eyes. "Why don't you do it then?"

"I cannot," she explained, "I was badly wounded in a battle one year ago. After that battle I woke up in this world, too weak to leave again. Too weak to open the door that allows travel to other worlds. I am a prisoner here just as you are. But, you have the power to set us both free. In return, I will give you everything your heart desires."

Xaven could no longer resist. He turned to the door, lusting for his desires in a way he would have thought unimaginable before. He grabbed the side of the door and pulled but it would not budge. He knelt down and tried to slide his fingers under the door, it was impossible.

"Why won't it open?" Xaven asked angrily, frustrated that he could not open a simple door.

"Maybe your heart is not willing it open. Or maybe you do not have the strength to set us free. Maybe I should find someone else..."

"No!" Xaven screamed. He pounded both fists against the door in anger. "Open! Open! Open!" With each word he slammed his fists against the door again.

He felt the anger permeate his entire being. The need to get out, the desire for company, for power, his lust for something greater than living in a forest because there was no other option. His hatred of himself for being weak. It consumed him, and he slammed his fists against the door again.

This time it swung open, he was tossed backward by a violent wind, landing six feet back, at Maleficent's feet.

Before he lost consciousness, he heard Maleficent laughing, screaming, "Yes! Finally!"


	2. Chapter 2

((I know this is kinda long, but it just kind of turned out that way. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what i want to do next, so reviews and suggestions please))

Xaven felt as though he were falling headfirst into something, but his eyes were too heavy to open. He struggled but he could not open them in the slightest.

"A dark beginning"

Xaven's eyes shot open at the sound of the voice. He could see nothing, he was surrounded by darkness. Then where did the voice come from? And how did he get here?

"Created by shadows"

Xaven turned in his fall, noticing that he was not falling very quickly, almost as if he were sinking into water. Except without that odd difficulty with breathing nonsense it is always accompanied by.

"A heart in balance"

Xaven was starting to get annoyed. Then he felt his body turn over and he landed softly on his feet. But on what? He still could not see anything.

"Can be great on both sides. Step forward. Can you do it?"

Xaven did not understand the voice at all for most of it, but he did get the "step forward" part pretty easily. He did not however enjoy the idea of walking forward into what might be open space.

"Is there a light or something?" he called out to the voice. "No? Alright, then" he said after a pause, more to himself than to the voice.

He, carefully and slowly, took one step forward. Immediately, the floor beneath him fluttered to life. A swarm of flying things rushed up from the floor. Xaven watched them all go. Half had been white doves, the other had been bats. This intrigued him, he wondered how the two opposites could have stayed, together and silent, on the floor without any problems.

Then he saw something that wiped the flying creatures from his mind. The floor, which was lit, creating the light that had enabled him to see the doves and bats, was a giant circle of stained glass. Depicted in the stained glass was him.

Xaven saw himself, arms and legs spread, his black hair fell straight to his shoulders, his green eyes shone bright because of the light beneath them. There was a line that divided the entire floor in half. On the left side the floor was white, on the right it was black. Xaven felt a powerful resonance inside him when he looked at the picture. Unthinking, he continued to walk toward the center of the circle.

When he reached it, the ground shook. The voice said, "Great power sleeps within you," just as three pedestals grew out of the ground. "But beware" A sword appeared over one pedestal. "Two paths lead to different ends" A small star appeared over a second pedestal. "There is no turning back" The last pedestal became home to a large tome, the book larger than any Xaven had ever seen.

"Choose wisely"

Xaven looked around at the three items. "Choose? Could you be a little less vague and mysterious?" Xaven asked. He waited but received no answer. "Great," Xaven mumbled to himself, "I'm asking a disembodied voice to be less vague and mysterious, that makes sense. But, I know I'm still going to do what the voice says. Couldn't you at least give me a cookie or something while I'm here?" The last sentance was yelled to the sky, but still unanswered.

Xaven sighed in resignation. He approached the pedestal with the sword on it. He reached out and grabbed the handle. The sword's handle and fingerguard were red, the blade silver. The sword was barely longer than Xaven's arm, but the handle was a hand-and-a-half handle, meaning it could be easily wielded with one or two hands.

"The sword of the warrior."

"Fantastic, the voice that speaks only to piss me off," Xaven mumbled.

"A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"

Xaven thought about it. Destruction and warrior both sounded nice, but he had no idea what the others were.

"I'm going to hold off on that until I see the others," he answered.

The sword pulled from his grip and resumed floating over the pedestal. Xaven turned to the star's pedestal and walked over to it. He reached out and grabbed it. The star was actually a fruit of some kind. It had a small leaf growing out of its top point. The entire fruit, apart from its leaf, was furry like a peach, and yellow.

"An inseparable bond"

Xaven's heart skipped a beat. A bond? He could choose that? He did not need to hear any more. He had chosen.

"This one!"

The voice continued, "Friendship and more to lend strength"

"I already said this one!"

"Is this the power you seek?"

"Hello? Are you deaf? Yes, this is what a want!" Xaven was becoming almost frantic.

The fruit disappeared and became a puff of sparkles, reminding Xaven of pixie dust.

"Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?"

Xaven's jaw dropped. "Give up? Why do I have to give something up? Why can't I just take my friend-fruit and go?" Still the voice did not reply. "You," Xaven addressed the voice, "have got to be the rudest and most selfish disembodied voice that i have ever spoken with."

Xaven turned toward the pedestal with the book. He could see, once he got close enough, that the book was bound in black leather and had no words on the cover. He grabbed it from it's floating position and turned it over, the entire thing was blank.

"A book of forbidden knowledge"

Xaven tried to open the book, but it would not open, even though there was nothing to keep it closed.

"Power and inner strength."

Xaven weighted the book in his hands. It was quite heavy, it might be useful as a weapon.

"Is this the power you give up?"

"No," Xaven answered immediately. As the book floated back to its position above the pedestal, he added, "And if I ever see you in person I'm going to beat the crap outta you with that thing."

Xaven walked back to the sword. "Power comes in more than one form. Yes, a sword of destruction would be awesome, but I think I prefer forbidden knowledge."

He took the sword in his hands again, and waited while the voice repeated what it had said before.

"A sword of the warrior" Xaven sighed, not wanting the voice to repeat itself, as if he had forgotten in the last two minutes.

"A sword of terrible destruction. Is this what you choose to give up?"

"Yes," Xaven answered, clearly annoyed by the voice.

The sword disappeared like the fruit had, but the sparkles were black this time. This was unnerving to Xaven, but he couldn't place his finger on why.

"You have chosen the inseparable bond. You have given up the power of the warrior. Is this the form you seek?"

"Do you think I'm going to change my mind? Yes, that's the form I seek," Xaven replied.

He immediately wished he hadn't. As soon as the words had left his mouth, all three pedestals caved into the floor, as if their support had just disappeared. Xaven did not see this as a good sign. He tried to run to the center of the circle, but the first time his foot hit the ground, the glass all shattered. There was nothing beneath it at all, just open space. As Xaven fell he wondered if he would die this time.

Not long after, he landed on another stained glass platform. This one showed him from side view, holding a strange looking sword in his right hand, the hand that was on the surface. The blade was round, and mostly black, but it had a rectangle at the end that looked like it had had a crown cut out of it. The handle was surrounded by an odd looking handguard that Xaven had never seen before. The handguard was a dark purple. Dangling from the handguard was a circle with two smaller circles above it, this shape was also black. And when you looked at the sword as a whole, it looked like a giant key.

Surrounding Xaven's picture were smaller pictures. One was the woman he had met in the cave, another was a redhead girl he had never seen, then a blonde haired girl, and a black haired girl he knew nothing about. The rest were oddly shaped circles that looked like planets, but with things like castles sticking out. Xaven did not understand any of it.

"You have gained the power to fight."

The sword from the pedestal appeared in his hand. It felt light, but still heavy enough to keep him aware of it, as it the sword was perfect for him.

"Wait... Didn't I give this up?" Xaven asked.

And for the first time, the voice seemed to answer a question. "Your destiny is full of war, this power is crucial for you." Xaven brushed it off as coincidence as opposed to actual help.

Just then, about ten feet in front of Xaven, a black creature pulled itself up from the floor. It looked almost like a mix between a baby and an ant. It had antenae but had two legs and two arms. It's eyes were big and yellow. It seemed to small to need to be faught.

Then it crawled forward quickly, if awkwardly due to it's feet being much bigger than its legs. And leapt at Xaven.

Xaven's eyes grew wide and he ducked just in time for the little creature to go over his head. What was this thing? Why was it attacking him?

Xaven did nothing offensive, allowing the creature to turn and attack again. This time Xaven swung the sword over his head and then brought it down as hard as he could. It sliced through the creature but istead of two halves of it hitting the ground it turned into a puff of black smoke.

As soon as the first one was gone, ten more appeared in a circle surrounding him. All of them attacked immediately.

Xaven swung at two in front of him, the sword went through them both without leaving a scratch. He brought the sword back the same way, they both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Before he had any time to think about this, he felt a claw dig into his back and claw downwards. It was a swipe and lasted less than a second, but it was beyond painful.

Xaven turned and plummeted his blade through the head of the creature that attacked him, then ran forward, assuming the creature would die from the wound.

He ran to the edge of the platform and turned. All seven of the remaining creatures followed him without a thought for the sword. Xaven waited until the creatures were two close to turn well and then ran around the edge of the platform, following the circle, the creatures followed suit.

Once Xaven had completed the circle and was right next to the sword again, the creatures were one the exact opposite side of the circle. He ran out and pulled the sword from the ground easily, as it had not been very deep. He continued running toward the creatures, when he was close enough he swung the flat of the blade at the creatures as if he was trying to play golf with their heads. He hit one perfectly and it sailed over the edge. While his sword was still in the air he brought it down to slice through another creature.

He had run out of surprise time and had to jump backward and swat at the creatures that crawled forward. He began to realize that he could hit it a few times and they would live, but anything that would be fatal to a person seemed to be fatal to them too.

He slowly dispatched the next four, but when he turned to the last one it sank into the ground. He had seen them do it a few times and was unworried, but this one did not crawl, it grew. Darkness grew across the entire platform. Xaven tried not to step on it, but soon it covered the entire platform, including under his feet.

He dropped off immediately to his knees and slowly started sinking. He put his hands down to push himself out but he could not move them afterward, he tried to kick his feet but they were stuck in place. He sank without hope and was swallowed in the darkness.

He could not move, or breathe, for what felt like eternity. Just before Xaven's lungs were to burst, he felt himself lying on another stained glass platform and saw light coming from beneath him.

He let out a burst of air and then rolled over to see this platform. It was divided in half diagonally. The side to the left showed planets, like the ones on the previous platform, surrounded by a black background, a heart shaped moon rested in the center in the center of the moon was a keyhole shape, colored in black.

The other side were the same planets but with a white background and sparkles and star-shapes surrounded each planet. On this side the moon had been replaced by the star fruit that he had chosen from the pedestal.

"These floors need to come with subtitles or something," Xaven said to himself. He knew that they were supposed to mean something, but he had no idea what.

"Beware your choice."

Xaven waited for more, but nothing came. He stood and called out, "Would you like to add a bit more to that? Ya know, so it's actually helpful?"

"Light and Darkness together conflict, but are balanced. And remember..."

"Aw, come on! Finish your bloody sentence!" Xaven screamed.

He was distracted by a shining in his perifrial vision. He looked down and saw himself, but made of pure Light, and not far from it he saw himself as a form of pure Darkness. This would have been very fear inspiring alone, but both of them were also carrying the same sword that Xaven was.

"Ah, crap"

Both of the two forms rushed at him, holding the sword one handed. There was no way he would be able to block them both, and he had little time to think.

When they were close enough, they swung their blades. The dark one swung high and the light one swung low. Xaven jumped to dodge the lower sword and he brought up his sword to block the second one.

When he did this, he was not strong enough to hold the block, his arm was thrown back. When this happened, his sword plunged into the face of the light version of himself, which then disappeared in a burst of light.  
>Xaven jumped back and held the sword in front of him with both hands. The dark version faced him, but made no move to attack.<p>

"Light is easily extinguished, Darkness is easily fought."

"More mystic messages by the anonymous voice," Xaven said angrily.

Then he rushed forward and swung downward at the dark form's head. The dark form blocked it just in time. The form brought it's sword down toward Xaven's side. He knew he could not move quickly enough to block it so he jumped to the side. He stopped himself just before rolling off the edge of the platform.

He rolled over and stood up, the dark form was rushing at him. He knew this form was better at fighting than he was, he needed to think of something.

He looked around but could see nothing but the platform. Made of glass. He smirked. "I'm insane," he said to himself.

He brought the sword, pointed down, to the floor as hard as he could. Immediately, the entire floor cracked and when the dark form took another step the floor shattered.

As he fell he heard the voice say, "Beware of your choice. Your destiny can shift in either way. You will affect many lives."


	3. Chapter 3

Xaven woke up, but was too tired and sore to move. He had no idea where he was, but every part of his body ached and he had no energy to move.

He tried to gauge where he might be with his other senses. He noticed immediately that it was completely silent. He smelled the air a few times. Besides dust and ash he could smell nothing. He was lying on something soft and comfortable. He slowly forced his eyes open to see a ceiling of gray brick, though the room was not well lit.

He turned his head to his left to see a brick wall. "That was productive," he mumbled sarcastically.

He forced his head, through a large effort, to turn to his right. The room that he was in was quite large, but, with the exception of the bed he was lying on, it was empty of furniture. The only light came from a torch mounted on the far wall next to a wooden door. The torch burned with a green flame.

Xaven's body really wanted him to get to sleep, but he refused to sleep in a place where he did not know where he was.

He forced himself to sit up, but it was painful. He looked down at himself, when he did he was both surprised and disgusted. He was not exactly sure what he had been wearing before, but now he wore skin-tight black pants and a tight black t-shirt, over this he wore a black coat that fell around his knees. He knew the clothes weren't his; they had been put on him by whoever had brought him to this room.

He stood, his body felt stiff, but it was easy enough to walk. He exited the room to find himself in a hallway. He randomly decided to turn right, left and right being the only options. The hallway was decorated exactly like the room he had been in, gray brick and nothing but torches with green flames for light.

As he walked the bricks in the walls became less frequent. First one brick was missing, then two or three every few feet, then it was easy to see through the holes the missing bricks created. By the time he reached the end of the hallway and was forced to turn to the right, the walls were only about seventy-five percent together.

Xaven made the forced turn and continued walking until he came into a round room. The rim of the room, about five feet toward the center, had supports every ten feet or so, but about half had already fallen. Bricks were missing all over the place and there was a hole in the center of the room which was about four feet below the rim of the room. Directly across from Xaven was a raised platform with stairs leading to it, on the platform sat a very evil looking throne.

"Where am I?" Xaven asked himself.

A green column of flame appeared in front of the throne, when it disappeared the woman from before, Maleficent, stood there.

"You are in my castle, in the world Enchanted Domain," she answered.

Xaven glared at the woman angrily. "What the hell is going on?" he yelled.

"Exactly what I promised, my pet. I have taken you to another world," Maleficent explain.

"Don't call me that. And why did you dress me?" Xaven asked, pulling at the odd coat he wore.

"When you opened the door," she answered as she slowly descended the stairs, "the Darkness that billowed forth was particularly vicious. It destroyed your clothes and took quite a toll on your body. I did not think you would enjoy waking up without clothing."

Xaven could not argue that point, he would have freaked out if he had woken up naked. So, he switched to a different tactic.

"Alright, well, give me answers. What happened to me right after the door? What was that place?" Xaven demanded.

This time Maleficent's face stayed completely still. As she reached the landing between the throne and the center of the room, she asked, "Place? What place? To my knowledge you never woke up."

"The place with stained glass platforms with the pictures and the strange creatures," Xaven explained.

Maleficent responded with, "I do not know, it might have been just a dream."

Xaven refused to accept that. It had felt much too real to be a dream. But, if she was suggesting that it was a dream she obviously had no idea what it was, Xaven had no reason to believe she would lie.

"Fine, then. What happened to my world?" he asked, adopting her word instead of saying planet.

"It was devoured by the Darkness," She answered with a smile.

"Devoured? It's gone?" Xaven asked in surprise. He had hated that place, but devoured? Did that mean everything and everyone was gone forever? All because he had opened that door?

"I destroyed my entire world? It was me?" Xaven asked in surprise.

"Yes, everything that you hated, all the pain that place caused you, all of it is gone. You gave it up for power and freedom. You made the right choice," Maleficent said.

Her words resounded in his mind. The hate, the pain, the rage, the sadness, the loneliness, everything came back to him. He was filled with all of it, it scared him. To distract himself, he forced out the question, "What power?"

Maleficent smiled.

Nevaeh woke up on a beach. She sat up, confused. She had been at school just a few minutes ago, why was she here now?

She looked around. She was on an island, but there were signs of inhabitants everywhere. There was a little shack, and a bridge leading across the water to a raised islet. Boards were placed all over to keep the sand in place for different levels of the island.

The air smelled of salt and sea, and the sand was pure white. Everything around her was so beautiful. But where was she? Why was she here? What had happened to her?

"Who are you?"

Nevaeh knew that voice was not in her head. It had been a masculine voice. She turned around to see a boy standing on a path that turned into a tree, she figured he was blocking something that could have hidden him.

The boy had spiky brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a mostly black outfit with at least three more belts on his baggy shorts than he needed. He wore a black t-shirt with a black hoodie over it. He also wore black shoes and black fingerless gloves. Some of his clothing had gray, yellow, and red here and there, but Nevaeh saw mostly black and focused on that.

"I'm Nevaeh, who are you?" she replied pleasantly.

"I'm Sora," he paused, as if thinking before he added, "Where did you come from?"

"I don't know," she answered immediately.

"You don't remember?" Sora asked as he approached her, concerned.

"No, I do," Nevaeh answered. This boy wasn't making any sense at all.

"Then how do you not know?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered again.

Sora paused. "Are you from Destiny Islands?"

"What's that?" Nevaeh asked, confused at the random question.

Sora smiled. "That's where we are," he explained.

"I've never heard of it."

"Well where are you from, then?"

"I don't know"

"How did you get here?"

"I don't know."

Sora looked like he was getting annoyed. Why was he annoyed? She was answering all his questions.

"Ok, I think we should go to the mainland." Sora motioned to follow him, so Nevaeh stood and did so. At least, until he got into a tiny row boat. She stayed still on the dock, staring into it.

"Come on," Sora said, "Get in."

"I can't swim," Nevaeh said, a little fearful.

Sora scratched his cheek. "You don't have to, just get in the boat."

"What if I fall out?"

Sora gasped, smiling. "Oh! If you fall out I'll swim out to get you. Promise." He held out his hand to help Nevaeh into the boat.

She hesitated, then decided she should trust him. She didn't even know where she was. She had nowhere to go and nothing to do until she figured out where she was. She took Sora's hand and slowly stepped into the boat. Using Sora as support, she sat down.

Sora pushed off the dock and started to row backward toward the larger island that was barely visible as they began the trip, but quickly grew in size.

"So, what's the last thing you remember? Before you got to the beach, i mean?" Sora asked.

Nevaeh thought back, she could remember everything clearly. "i was at school eating lunch with my friends. it got really cloudy really fast. and then the world started falling apart and getting sucked up into this big black ball that floated over our school. a bunch of little black creatures crawled out of the ground and attacked us. most of my friends disappeared and left behind just a floating heart. then black stuff surrounded it and the heart turned into another black creature," she recounted.

"the heartless attacked your world?" Sora asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

"um... i guess?"

"well, what happened next? how'd you get out?" Sora asked, almost as if he were a child asking the TV what happens on the next episode of a cartoon.

"well, this sword appeared in my hand..." she was interrupted almost immediately.

"was it shaped like a key?" Sora asked excitedly.

Nevaeh blinked. "i guess."

"summon it!" Sora was now so excited he had forgotten to keep rowing and they were lazily drifting in the ocean.

Nevaeh was not exactly sure how to "summon" it, but she tried. she held out her hand and willed it to come to her. in a flash of light, it reappeared. the sword had a guard almost in the shape of a circle around her fingers, but it was cylindrical and smooth. the blade of the sword was also basically cylindrical, but it seemed to be made of clouds. there was also a part of the sword near the end opposite her hand, it was a rectangle but it seemed to have the bottom part of an n missing from it. the entire thing was white.

"yes! another keyblade wielder!" Sora cheered. "oh!" he then remembered he was supposed to be rowing and headed back toward the island, though they had drifted off course a little.

((an: alright, i know i said that there would be three new keyblade wielders in the description. but, i changed my mind. for now at least it's just Nevaeh and Xaven. sorry about that))


	4. Chapter 4

Xaven had begun using the power of Darkness and had trained a bit, with Maleficent instructing him. He was taught mostly how to use it during fighting. But she did show him how to open something called a "Dark Corridor". He had just used this new trick to travel to a place called Radiant Garden.

The place looked... broken. As if it had been destroyed. He stood at the base of a castle. Empty wasteland stood before him. Empty chasms were all that he could see.

Maleficent had told him her vision of ruling all worlds by using something called "Kingdom Hearts". Xaven had not gotten all the details but he knew that Maleficent needed Heartless and seven Princesses. He had been sent to Radiant Garden to see if he could "acquire a castle" that Maleficent seemed fond of. Though it did not look like anyone would be putting up much of a fight if he claimed it.

He had actually gone for fighting. He had not gotten to train with Maleficent because she was too weak to summon Heartless. But apparently, most worlds were full of them. Especially this one.

He did not think anyone would care about the castle, so he left, walking away from it. It was quite a boring walk, and along the way he saw nothing, until, after walking through a mountain pass, he came to a town.

The town looked nice enough, obviously rebuilt since the destruction of the castle he had arrived at. But, he was quickly distracted.

He had walked no more than ten feet into the town, at a place he assumed was the center, since it was a circle and branched off in four directions, when Heartless appeared. And not the little ones he was used to. These were bigger, and wore clothes and helmets.

"Good, some fun," Xaven said smiling.

"I'd be careful if I were you," a deep voice said from behind him.

Xaven glanced behind him to see a man with long brown hair and a scar across his face. He wore a black t shirt and brown leather pants with black boots. He carried an odd looking gun with him; Xaven could have sworn he thought he saw a trigger on the sword.

Xaven ignored the man and rushed the Heartless. As he did he felt his arm grow heavier. He looked over to see the sword he had seen in the stained glass, the one that looked like a giant key. He was not exactly surprised, he had been sure he would see the sword eventually.

With the sword in hand, he swung at the Heartless. One swipe destroyed the first Heartless he hit. It was odd, while looking at them Xaven would have guessed they'd be stronger and more durable than the little Heartless he had fought.

Also to his surprise, he destroyed the Heartless, something strange happened. It disappeared in a puff of black smoke, just as the others had. But, this one also released a heart. The heart floated to the sky and disappeared. Xaven briefly wondered why that had happened, but brushed it off. There were still more Heartless.

That's when he noticed the man with the scar on his face had started fighting the Heartless as well. It took him more than one swing to kill each one and his released no hearts. Xaven found this very intriguing.

Still, he went back to fighting. There had been about fifty when Xaven had arrived, but between him only needing to hit them once and the scarred man they were quickly destroyed.

"You," the man said, seeming a little winded, "also wield the Keyblade?"

Xaven held out his sword. "This thing?" he asked.

"Where did you get that?" the man asked.

Xaven shook his head. "No, no, no," he said sarcastically. "You're doing it all wrong. First, introductions, then you start asking personal questions."

The man gave an odd, as if exactly half of his mouth had that it was funny and the other half was unconcerned. "The name's Leon"

"Xaven. See now you can ask questions," Xaven put emphasis on the "now".

"Where did you get the Keyblade?" Leon asked.

"I didn't get it anywhere. It showed up in my hand when i attacked the Heartless just now," Xaven answered. Leon did not move or speak for a while. Xaven began to wonder if he would be alright just before Leon spoke.

"What world are you from?"

"It doesn't matter, it's gone now," Xaven's reply was harsh and immediate. Somehow, after his world had been destroyed his hatred for it only grew.

"And you regained consciousness here?" Leon asked.

"No, why?"

Leon hesitated. Glanced at the Keyblade, then back at Xaven. "Who sent you here?"

Xaven glared at Leon, he had obviously figured out something which contained significance. He did not wish to relinquish that information without gaining some himself.

"You've been asking a lot of questions. It's my turn," Xaven said.

Leon put away his sword and crossed his arms. "Fine."

"You know about this sword, this Keyblade?" Leon nodded. "Tell me about it."

-

Nevaeh shook her head vigorously.

"Come on, what're you afraid of?" Sora asked.

Nevaeh's voice was so small Sora had to lean forward to catch what she said. "I don't know them."

Sora laughed. "You'll like them, you'll see."

The two were standing on the porch of a house. Sora had only said it belonged to a girl named Kairi and that she and their friend Riku would be there.

Sora opened the door and walked in, motioning for Nevaeh to follow. Nevaeh wondered how often Sora was allowed to walk in without even knocking. She followed slowly.

Immediately inside the house was a living room, though Nevaeh thought there was something missing. There were two couches, each could seat three people. The couches faced each other with a coffee table between them. There was also a big fluffy chair at one end of the coffee table. To the side of the couch farthest from the door was a bookshelf filled with books and in the other corner of the same wall was a large cupboard. The floor was hardwood, but not as shiny as ones she had seen, she figured it must be hand-made.

Sitting on the couch nearest Neveah was a boy with long gray hair that covered most of his face and fell below his shoulders. Nevaeh could not see his eyes. He wore a plain white t-shirt and blue jean, cut off shorts.

Facing him on the other couch was a really pretty girl with short red hair and blue eyes. She wore a simple light blue dress that, in Nevaeh's opinion, revealed too much of her breasts.

"Sora! You know you're supposed to knock!" the girl's voice was not angry. It sounded more annoyed and exasperated.

Sora tilted his head and smiled while scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, Kairi. I forgot."

The girl, Kairi, sighed and looked to the floor. "You always forget."

Sora walked over to Kairi and sat down next to her. "I brought someone for you two to meet," he said.

Nevaeh's heart started pounding. What if they were mean to her? What if Kairi got mad at her like she did Sora? What if the scary looking guy with gray hair yelled at her? Neveah's mind continued with such questions until Sora said, "Kairi, Riku, this is Nevaeh. Nevaeh, this is Kairi," he gestured to the girl next to him, "and Riku," he gestured to the gray haired boy.

Nevaeh gave a small wave without removing her arm from her side and gave a small, "Hi."

"Are you related to Wakka?" Riku asked.

Nevaeh almost asked, "What's a Wakka?" but she realized she might offend someone or look really stupid. Either way she couldn't do it. She decided shaking her head would suffice.

"She's from another world," Sora explained, finally not smiling.

"Oh, how did you get here?" Riku asked politely.

Again, Nevaeh went to her fallback phrase. "I don't know."

Sora began explaining for her. "Her world was destroyed by Darkness. She survived because she wields the Keyblade."

Riku turned to Sora. "How do you know all this?"

"She told me," Sora answered with a big grin. "I think she's just really shy."

Riku nodded. "Ok, well. Now that Sora's back, the two of us have to leave." Nevaeh's eyes shot open. She was being left all alone?

"Where will Nevaeh be staying?" Kairi asked, to Nevaeh's great graditude.

"With you, if it's ok?" Sora answered.

Kairi shook her head. "I'm going with you guys this time!" she demanded.

"Then they'll both come with us," Riku interjected. "But, I still need to change. Maybe you could lend Nevaeh some clothes, Kairi?"

Nevaeh looked down at her clothes. Her shorts and t-shirt both looked covered in salt and sand. She agreed she could use a new change of clothes.

Kairi stood and smiled. "Sure, come on, Nevaeh." Kairi left the room and headed down a hallway that led to a flight of stairs. Nevaeh followed close at her heels.

The upstairs was just a hallway with four doors, two on each side. The one on the far left was Kairi's. When they entered, Kairi sighed and sat down on her bed and put her face in her hands.

Nevaeh waited a few seconds and then asked, "Uhm... Are you okay?"

Kairi brought her head back up with a sad, forced smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking I had better get changed too."

"But, you look amazing." Nevaeh had no idea where that had come from, but she was not lying. Kairi's legs looked smooth and they were long, her breasts were probably size C, which was just big enough for Nevaeh, and she was so pretty. Nevaeh doubted it, but she hoped Kairi was a lesbian, or at least bi.

"No, I only wore this to see if Sora would notice my body in it," Kairi replied as she unzipped the back and let it fall to the floor, leaving her in plain, pink bra and panties. Nevaeh looked immediately and then tried to keep her eyes at Kairi's face.

"He's my boyfriend, but... we're both seventeen and we've only ever kissed. I wonder if he's just not attracted to me," Kairi said sadly.

At the word "boyfriend" Nevaeh's heart dropped a little. "Umm... Clothes?" was all she could say.

"Oh, right," Kairi went to her closet. "How tall are you?"

"Five one," Nevaeh answered shyly. She looked around Kairi's room. It was pretty plain. A bed with a pink comforter covering everything, a walk in closet to remove the need for a dresser, a desk with trinkets, papers and books all over but unorganized. There was no much else.

Kairi's voice came from the other room. "I think these might fit you," she called.

When she walked out, to Nevaeh's disappointment, she was dressed. She wore a tight pair of shorts that went to just above her knees, and a light purple shirt that had sleeves, but barely.

In her hands, she carried a bundle of clothes. "Sorry, when I outgrow most of my clothes I give them to my friends or younger girls on the island. I barely have anything that might fit you, but here."

Nevaeh took the bundle of clothes. It was a white, speghetti strap shirt with purple edges and a short purple skirt with shorts under it.

Nevaeh undressed, waiting to see if Kairi would look at her in her pink panties and white bra. Unfortunately, she didn't even look for a second, she was completely turned around.

All the clothes fit perfectly. Kairi had her walk into the closet where there was a mirror. Nevaeh looked at herself. The purple went with her brown skin well, but her black hair needed to be pushed behind her shoulders. Her almond eyes looked pretty though, in her opinion.

When she was satisfied that she looked good enough, she and Kairi walked out of the house and down to the beach. She and Kairi rowed out to the other island.

"Where are we going?" Nevaeh asked, starting to get comfortable with Kairi.

"Sora and Riku have to go see a Keyblade Master to take a test to become Keyblade Masters," Kairi replied.

"Master? So I have to do something to be better with the Keyblade and take a test?" Nevaeh asked, starting to worry.

"I really don't know, we just found out about this a week ago," Kairi explained.


	5. Chapter 5

Xaven sat in a room at the castle Maleficent had wanted. He had learned the true power of the Keyblade from Leon. If he held such power, why should he be serving someone who could not even use a Dark Corridor?

Xaven looked around the library in wonder. Leon had said that by changing the keychain at the end of the Keyblade you could change the Keyblade's appearance, powers, and strength.

Xaven wondered what powers exactly it could gain. The blade seems to revolve around the power of the heart. Could he manipulate hearts with a special Keyblade? This was to be his goal.

He had to practice something first. He needed to control the Heartless better. For this, he still needed Maleficent.

He would find a way to manipulate hearts and control the Heartless. But then what? What exactly would he work towards? What did he want? He wanted to be powerful. With the Keyblade that should be simple enough. And using Darkness he would be invincible. He wanted to be with people, he wanted friends, and he wanted to be loved. But where to start? How could he go about that?

Why not start his own world? His mind lit up. He could recreate his world; the place that he hated so much could be replaced with a place where he could feel loved and important. This was his goal. First thing's first.

He waved his hand, causing the Dark Corridor to open in front of him. He walked into it and walked a short distance in a tunnel of total and complete Darkness. Then he exited just inside Maleficent's throne room.

"You have been gone quite some time. Is my castle ready to be occupied again?" Maeficent asked.

"Shut up," Xaven demanded. Maleficent looked taken aback, so he continued. "You're going to teach me how to control the Heartless."

Maleficent smiled. "A violent encounter?"

"Now!" Xaven's anger exploded, he felt and saw the Darkness swarming around him. It was like smoke, blacker than the deepest darkness, escaped from his body.

"My pet, it is simple." She raised her staff and it glowed green. Then, Xaven's body, though it was hard to see because of the Darkness surrounding him, glowed green as well.

Xaven felt it, the cold, bitter, Darkness that filled him. But he felt something else; he felt this growing green light add power to him. He felt an odd energy coursing through him. He felt the power to control Heartless.

"There, now try to call upon the creations of Darkness," Maleficent said excitedly.

Xaven willed Heartless to come to him. Immediately, four shadows appeared on the floor and grew out of it. Xaven grew angry, he felt that odd, green energy within him flux.

"Come! Now!" his voice coated with Darkness, giving a slight echo as Maleficent's did.

Soldiers burst into the room, Neoshadows grew from the floor, black and purple gases floated in, becoming Invisibles and Darkballs. These things filled the room, all of them facing him, the only movement came from the odd, eratic movements that all Heartless had.

Xaven pointed at Maleficent. "Take her heart," he commanded.

Maleficent's eyes grew in fear. "No! No! I created you! You can't do this to me!"

Xaven's gaze hardened, but a smile crept onto his face. "You don't understand, do you? I will be the most powerful being in existence. You just taught me how to do it."

The Heartless swarmed on Maleficent, her screams of protest lasted on a few seconds. Her heart was released and then covered in Darkness which formed into a neoshadow.

"You will be my first experiment," Xaven told Maleficent's Heartless. "Go to the library at the ruined castle in Radiant Garden. You will stay there. If anyone with a Keyblade enters, you will hide."

Maleficent's Heartless faded into the floor and disappeared. Xaven waved his hand and the rest of the Heartless disappeared.

-

"This thing is amazing!" Nevaeh said excitedly, practically bouncing on her toes.

She was aboard what the others had called a "gummi ship". They said this was this specific ship's maiden voyage. They had attempted to make the ship as inhabitable as possible.

The ship had a kitchen, but fire was not allowed, just in case, so food had to be heated in the microwave, and there was no oven. There was a refrigerator and a freezer, and there were cupboards and dishes, but still the kitchen was rather small. There was a long hallway with beds, all of them bunk beds and queen sized. The beds were lined on both sides of the wall and there were at least fifty, but as Nevaeh had only been awake for a few hours she was fine without rest.

The cockpit had lots of buttons and levers but only three chairs. Sora immediately took the pilots chair. Riku took the chair to his right. Kairi showed Nevaeh around the ship, which looked smaller on the outside, and they stopped in the bed-hallway.

"So," Kairi said, "did your world have a name?"

"Earth?" Nevaeh guessed.

Kairi hesitated, looking as though she was in thought. "I don't think I've ever heard of it. And Sora and Riku tell me every world they go to."

Nevaeh shrugged. "Well, it's gone now," she replied sadly.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad!" Kairi said, waving her hands frantically, as if it would help her think.

Nevaeh smiled. "It's fine."

"Um... Want to find something to eat?" Kairi asked.

"Yes!" Nevaeh exclaimed with wide eyes, she was always hungry.

Kairi led the way to the kitchen. Once there she asked, "Anything you feel like eating?"

"Ramen?" Nevaeh asked.

Kairi paused. "I don't know what that is," she said apologetically.

Nevaeh realized different worlds might have different foods. "You pick then," she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

Kairi opened the refrigerator and looked through it. "Do you want some fruit salad?" she asked.

Nevaeh smiled and nodded. "Sure!"

Kairi smiled and started to pull out fruits. Some she recognized, such as blueberries and strawberries. But, there were also strange fruits, one was round and yellow like a lemon, but it was fuzzy like a peach. One was perfectly round and pitch black. There was even one that looked almost like a cube, and many more.

Kairi brought all these fruits out and to the counter where she carefully cut them up and put them into a large metal bowl that she had had Nevaeh retrieve from a cupboard near the floor. Once everything was cut and mixed, she returned to the refrigerator for a can of whipped cream which she sprayed all over the fruit before mixing it again.

"Whipped cream is fruit?" Nevaeh asked.

Kairi giggled. "Of course not, but I like the way it tastes," she said.

Nevaeh, after receiving directions from Kairi, retrieved four bowls from a cupboard and Kairi emptied the fruit salad into them. Then Kairi placed a fork in each. Both girls grabbed two bowls each and carried the bowls out to the cockpit.

"We made a snack," Kairi announced when they entered the room.

Riku turned to the two girls. "Kairi," he hesitated a few seconds, "you know it's only a three hour ride, right?"

Kiari sighed. "Just say thank you, Riku."

She handed a bowl to him, then walked over and handed one to Sora. Both of them replied simultaneously with, "Thank you, Kairi." Though, Sora's did seem more enthusiastic.

Still, even as Riku relaxed and started to eat, even if he did do it quickly. Sora set the bowl in his lap and continued to fly the ship. Kairi stood by his side, obviously waiting for something.

Apparently, Sora didn't notice. After about two minutes of waiting, Kairi turned around and walked back. Nevaeh held out the bowl of fruit for her but Kairi walked right by and into the hallway with beds.

Nevaeh stood still for a few seconds, wondering what she should do. She followed after Kairi, confused. She found her sitting on one of the bottom beds.

Nevaeh sat down next to her. Kairi's head was down and her hair covered most of her face. "Want your fruit?" Nevaeh asked, holding out a bowl of fruit.

Kairi took the bowl and said, "Thank you." But, there was something wrong with her voice. It sounded to Nevaeh like she was crying.

Nevaeh set her bowl down next to her on the bed and wrapped her arms around Kairi's neck in a hug. At first, Kairi didn't respond. After a few second, Nevaeh felt Kairi's arms wrap around her. They stayed silent in that embrace for five minutes before Nevaeh's curiosity got the best of her.

"Kairi," she said hesitantly, "what's wrong?"

Kairi pulled back so that the girls could see each other's faces. Kairi still had tears running down her face, she wiped them away, which still left her face red.

"I guess I expected Sora to act a little differently than Riku. I mean, at least Riku reacted! I know Sora can be oblivious sometimes, but i stood right next to him for three minutes and he never once even tried the fruit salad I made." As soon as she finished new tears leaked down her face.

"Maybe he was too busy flying the ship?" Nevaeh suggested.

"This ship has an autopilot," Kairi argued.

Nevaeh tried to think of another excuse, but came out with nothing but, "Oh."

"I mean," Kairi continued, "when he comes back from those adventures or when I'm in danger it's like he loves me more than anything. But when we're together he just acts like I'm just another friend on the islands."

Nevaeh could think of no good reply, so she spoke honestly, "Maybe you should be with someone else then?"

Kairi looked down and paused for a few minutes, completely still and silent. After what felt like an eternity to Nevaeh, Kairi replied. She nodded her head and whispered, "Maybe you're right."

***************

Xaven stood on his old world. After it had been devoured by Darkness it was no more than a few rocks floating in the world between, but using Darkness he had restored it to its former glory. With some changes.

There were no people or animals on this planet. Restoring it with Darkness when it was Darkness that had destroyed it made it impossible to bring people and animals back. This was perfect in Xaven's opinion. Also, all the plants had grown back just fine, but they had all become colored black and dark purple. This seemed to be an improvement, so it didn't bother him. The only thing that he cared about was the fact that every inch of the entire world had become overcast and nothing he had done could fix it. This was his only problem with a world of darkness.

He had discovered that all cities had been destroyed and when he restored the planet, nature reclaimed them, so he was rebuilding the world from scratch. This seemed like perfection itself.

His plan started simply. He used a Dark Corridor to find the cave with the door without a doorknob. He had figured out, using information Leon had given him, that this was the door to the heart of this world. And he could seal the world by finding the keyhole.

He pointed the keyblade at the door, hoping the door might be near the keyhole. Sure enough, a keyhole shaped mark appeared on the door and a black beam of light shot from his keyblade into the keyhole. He heard a click, like turning tumblers.

Part one, done.

He exited the cave, satisfied that his world was safe from destruction by the Heartless now. He exited the forest to find a field of scattered trees and grass. This area had once been the neighborhood he lived in.

He summoned the power of Darkness and slowly raised his hands into the air. A castle of black stone rose from the ground without even disturbing the surroundings.

As the castle rose, Xaven said to himself, but out loud, "This world is mine now, tainted by the Darkness it created in me. And it is no longer Earth. This world is now my Tainted Domain."


End file.
